New York City, NY — September 1, 2024 — The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) has sparked widespread concern across various industries, but for voice-over artists Paul Skye Lehrman and Linnea Sage, the impact of AI has hit disturbingly close to home. The couple recently filed a lawsuit against Lovo, a text-to-speech platform, accusing the company of stealing their voices, cloning them with AI technology, and selling them without consent.
The shocking discovery came in June 2023 when Lehrman and Sage were listening to a podcast about the potential impact of AI on Hollywood. The couple, who make their living as voice-over performers, were stunned to hear Lehrman’s voice being used by an AI chatbot on the show. The irony of hearing his own voice discuss the very threat AI posed to their industry was chilling.
The couple’s investigation led them to Lovo, a company known for its AI-driven text-to-speech software. They allege that in 2019, Lovo employees reached out to them anonymously via Fiverr, a popular freelance platform, to commission recordings under the guise of research. Lehrman and Sage provided the requested audio, believing it would be used for internal, non-commercial purposes. However, they later discovered that Lovo had used these recordings to create AI clones of their voices, which were then sold potentially hundreds of thousands of times.
In their lawsuit, Lehrman and Sage claim that Lovo’s actions constitute a violation of their rights of publicity and breach of contract. They argue that they never granted Lovo permission to use their voices for commercial purposes and that the company’s actions were deceptive and exploitative.
Lovo has not yet responded to the lawsuit or requests for comment from the BBC, which first reported the couple’s ordeal. The company has previously defended its practices, stating that the communications between its employees and the couple were legal and that it did not misuse the recordings.
Legal experts believe the case could set a significant precedent in the ongoing debate over the ethical use of AI in creative industries. Professor Kristelia Garcia, an intellectual property law specialist at Georgetown University, notes that the case will likely focus on the concept of rights of publicity, which protects individuals from unauthorized use of their image or voice. Additionally, there may be grounds for a breach of contract claim, as the couple contends that Lovo exceeded the terms of the licenses they granted.
As AI technology continues to evolve, this case underscores the growing tension between innovation and individual rights. For Lehrman and Sage, the lawsuit is about more than just reclaiming control over their voices; it’s about ensuring that artists and performers are not rendered obsolete by the very technologies they help create.
“This whole experience has felt so surreal,” said Sage. “When we thought about artificial intelligence, we were thinking of AI folding our laundry and making us dinner, not pursuing human beings’ creative endeavors.”
The lawsuit is ongoing, and its outcome could have far-reaching implications for the future of AI in the entertainment industry and beyond.
